The Viking girls play at 9 a.m. Wednesday against Burlington-Edison at the Yakima SunDome.

It’s the first visit to the state tournament since the 1987-88 season.

The boys are on the opposite end, playing in a 9 p.m. game Wednesday against W.F. West of Chehalis.

North Kitsap girls coach Penny Gienger said they wanted to head over to Yakima early so the team could get checked into the hotel, have an afternoon practice and dinner before its early loser-out game.

The North Kitsap girls basketball team poses for a picture outside the Yakima SunDome Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018.(Contributed photo)

State 2A

Girls

The opposition: Burlington-Edison Tigers

Coach: Brett McLeod

Last state appearance: 2016-17, second place

The lowdown: The Tigers are ranked No. 3 and are making their 17th trip to state in school history. Last season, Burlington-Edison lost to Lynden in the championship game, 44-36. The Tigers are 18-6 on the season, finishing second in the Northwest Conference with a 12-1 record. … There are six trophies up for grabs. The last trophy won by North Kitsap was in 1987-88 when the Vikings finished sixth after a 55-52 loss to Chief Sealth. The Vikings best finish, of course, was in 1984-85 when it won the state championship, 50-48 over Prairie. The previous season they were second to Woodway, 54-52 in the title game. NK also has two fifth-place trophies and a fourth-place trophy to its credit.

What’s next: The winner of this game will face No. 5 Archbishop Murphy (Everett) on Thursday at 9 a.m. in the quarterfinals.

Boys

The opposition: W.F. West Bearcats

Coach: Chris White

Last state appearance: 2007-08, eighth place

The lowdown: The No. 8 Bearcats are paced by the 12.1 points from senior forward/center Bailey Cooper. Jordan Thomas has chipped in 11.6 scoring average while Brandon White has averaged 10.4 points. W.F. West is coming off a 73-46 loss in regionals to No. 1 Lynden. … The Bearcats have played in 12 state tournaments with their first appearance coming in 1922-23 when they finished seventh. They did win it all in the 1959-60 season by beating Sumner 70-56. … The Vikings finished sixth last season with a 69-60 loss to Anacortes. North has played in 14 state tournaments with its best finish a third-place trophy in 1959-60.

What’s next: The winner of this game will play Thursday at 3:45 p.m. against No. 4 Mark Morris in the quarterfinals.

In this article

Annette Griffus is a multiple award-winning journalist with 24 years in the newspaper industry, including the last 17 years at the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton, Washington. Annette covered everything from youth sports to high school, collegiate athletics, professional sports including the Olympics in 2004 in Athens, Greece.
She graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in journalism from Eastern Washington University in 1997, and in 2015 she completed her Bachelors of Science degree Summa Cum Laude in Health and Wellness from Kaplan University.
Also in 2015, Annette completed her first triathlon and again in 2016.